Welder&#39;s tongs



F. B. DREYER 1,812,142

WELDER S TONGS June 30, 1931;

Filed Aug. '7. 1929 INVENTOR flan/r B .Dre z e/ 4 61/06 C-JWM ATTORNEY Patented June 30, 1931 UNITED STATES FRANK B. DBEYER, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON WELDERS TONGS Application filed August 7, 1929. Serial No. 384,099.

M invention relates to improvements in wel ers tongs of the form commonly used by electric welders and the general object of my invention is to improve the construction,

increase the efiiciency and cheapen the cost of tongs of this nature.

More specific objects are to provide a pair of welders tongs formed of ordinary steel rods, one of the tong members having a slot near its forward end and the other tong member having a hook like finger extending sidewise therefrom and projecting through the slot in said first named tong member, said finger having one end of a tension spring secured thereto, the other end of said tension spring being anchored to a hanger member of insulating material which is slidable and adjustable on the shank of the first named tong member, which hanger is arranged to be held in any ad'usted position on said first named ton mem r by friction due to the off center pul of the spring.

Other and more specific objects will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a pair of welders tongs constructed in accordance with my invention parts being shown in section.

Fig. 2'is a plan view of the same substantially on broken line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detached plan view of one of the tong members.

Fig. 4 is a detached elevation of a modified form of tong member.

Referring to the drawings, throughout.

which like reference numerals designate like parts, 5 and 6 designate the shank portions stantially parallel gripping portions 7 and 9. The tong member 6 has a rearwardly curved finger 12 which passes through the inner end of the slot 11 and hooks over the inwardly bent tip portion 10 whereby a cheap and efiicient pivot joint is formed between the two parts of the tong. The shank 6 is bent slightly near its point of connection with the finger 12 and has an integral gripping portion 13 extending forwardly from the finger 12 and arranged to overlie the slot 11 and project beyond the outer end of said slot and rest upon the curved end portion 8 0f the opposing tong member when the tongs are closed. The single gripping portion 13 of one tong member being positioned between the two spaced apart gripping portions 7 and 9 of the other tong member afl'ords a three point gripping means of high efliciency for gripping an object as a wire or rod which may extend, crosswise, or in an direction except substantially lengthwise of the tong.

The lower end of the finger 12 has a notch 14 for the reception of a loop or hook 19 on one end of a tension spring 15. The other end of the spring 15 is secured to a hanger 16 of insulating material which is adjustable on the shank 5. e tension exerted by the spring 15 on the lowerend of the hanger 16 produces a prying action and causes said hanger to bind on the shank 5 and remain in any adjusted position thereon, but said hanger may be moved along the shank 5 to adjust the tension of the spring 15 by grasping the hanger with the hand and exerting suificient 85 force to overcome the binding efiectproduced by the OE center pull of the spring. A tube 17 of insulating material is provided on the spring 15 to preventcontact of the spring with metal objects which might complete the circuit through the same. This tube preferably has an extension 18 at its rear end de signed to extend under and beyond the insulating block 16 so as to protect thehook 19 on the rear end of the sprin'g15 from contact with metallic objects. -A similar extension at the front end protects the finger 12.

The rear end of the shank 5 is threaded fo the reception of a socket nut 20 which has an fao.

axial receptacle 21 in its outer end arranged to receive the end of a wire cable 22 through whichcurrent is supplied to the tongs. The

rear end of the shank is. ointed as at 23, 5 for the purpose of expan g the parted wires of the end of the cable 22 within the receptacle 21 when the socket nut is secured.onto the shank 5 to thereby bind the wires securely to the tong and insure rfect electrical contact. The wall of the soc et nut 20 in which the receptacle 21 is formed is split radially as at 24 so that when the pointed end 23 expands the cable 22 within the receptacle 21 it will also expand the socket nut 20, within a tubular handle 25 and thus secure the handle, to the tong. The handle 25 is preferably a tubular piece of insulating material. This makes a very substantial, cheap, efficient and readily assembled structure for connecting the electrical wires and securing the handle onthe tong. The shank 6 is longer than the shank 5 so thatthe operator can conveniently grasp both the handle 25 and shank 6 with one hand at the same time.

The curved finger 12 of one tong member in cooperation with the inwardly bent portion 10 of the other tong member form a very efiicient, cheap and easily assembled pivot means and spring connection. The finger 12 forms a long enough lever arm-so that a spring of medium weight willhold the tongs firmly clamped on any object within the gripping portion of said tongs.

facture and the assembling is very quickly and easily done. Either one or both of the tong members may bequickly and easily re placed in case of deterioration by wear or urning. The spring is completely insulated at one end and throughout the greater por tion of its length so there is very little danger of damaging the spring due to short circuiting. The parts 7, 9 and 13 form avery efiicient means for grip ing and holding an object as a welding rod or bar.

In Fig. 4 I show a tong memberin which the finger hook 12' is formed by bendin In other respects this tong member is similar to the tong member 6. v The-foregoing description and accompanying drawings clearly disclose a referred embodiment of my invention but it will be understood that t is disclosure is merely illustrative and that such ,chanfes in the invention may be made as are airly within the scolpe'and spirit of the following claims.

claim:

:1. A welders tong, embodying a tong member havin tong mem tong, member a'ving a substantially perpendicular finger ex t ending through said slot. and cooperating in pivotally connecting said eltwotong mandaaorinzc'onnected All of the parts are very cheap to manu-' a slot near its outer end, another 1 ng alongside said first named' with the outer end of said finger and with said first named tong member to the rear of said slot for holding said tongs in a closed position.

2. A welders tong, embodying a tong mem- 7 her having an elongated slot near its outerend, another tong member lying alongside said first named tong member having a g'rippin portion extending lengthwise of said slot an projecting beyond the end of the same, a rearwardly curved finger extending sidewise from saidYlast named tong member throu h the inner end of said slot and cooperating in forming a pivot between said two tong members, and a tension spring connected with the outer end of said finger and with said first named tong member to the rear of said slot for holding said two tong members in closed position. v

3. A welders tong, embodying a tong memher having a shank and having an elongated slot near its outer end, another tong member lying alongside said first named tong member having a gripping portion extending lengthwise of said slot and projecting beyond the end of the same, a rearwardly curved finger extending sidewise from said last named tong member through the inner end of said slot and cooperating in forming a ivot between said two tong members, an a justable hanger of insulating material movable longitudinally along the shank of said first named tong member, and a tension spring connecting said hanger and the outer end of said finger for urging said tong members into a closed position.

4. A welder s tong, embodying a tong member having a shank and having an elongated slot near its outer end, another tong member lying alongside said first named tong mem- 106 her having a gripping portion extending lengthwise of said slot and projecting beyond the end of the same, a re'arwardly curved finger extending sidewise from said last named tong member through the inner end of 110 said slot and cooperating in forming a pivot between said two tong members, a tension spring connected,v with the outer end of said finger, a hanger of insulating material havin ahole in one end slidable on the shank of said first named tong member the other end of said hanger having the rear end of said spring connected therewith whereby said spring is adjustably held under tension, the prying action of said sprin on said hanger causing said hanger to bind on said first named ton member and a tube of insulating materia covering said spring.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the tube of insulating material which 188 covers said sprin has a portion on its rear end which exten s rearwa-rdly beyond said I hanger to protect the loop on the rear end of the sprin 6. A welders tong, embodyinga tong mem- I emar-is .ber formed of a round rod bent double at its forward end to leave two spaced apart parallei gripping portions with a slot therebetween the tip of the rearwardly bent portion being bent inwardly against the other portion of said rod to afiord a fulcrum, another tong member lying alongside said first named tong member and also formed of a round rod and having a single gripping portion positioned over said slot and arranged to rest on the end oi said first named tong member be yond the outer end of the slot when the tong members are in a closed position, finger means rigid with said last named tong member and projecting through said slot and hooking over said inwardly bent tip and cooperating to pivotally connect said two tong members, a tension spring connected with the outer end of said finger means and with the first named tong member to the rear of said slot a to urge the two tong members into closed po sition and a handle on one oi said tong memhers-u 'Z. A welders tong embodying two tong members pivotally connected together and arranged to grasp and hold an object, one of said tong members having an externally threaded rear end terminating in substantially pointed portion, a nut arranged to screw onto said threaded end said Iiut having a recess in one side for the reception of an electrically conductive cable and said nut bea ing radially slotted to permit expansion of the same, and a tubular handle arranged to fit over said nut, said pointed end being adapted to expand said cable within said recess and toexpand said nut within said handle when said nut is screwed onto said tong member thereby securing said cable within said recess and securing said handle on said nut.

8. A welders tong embodying a tong member having a gripping portion and a shank, said gripping portion having an opening therethrough, another tong member having a gripping portion and a shank lying alongside the corresponding parts of said first named tong member, a finger extending sidewise from said last named tong member through the opening in the gripping portion of said first named tong member, said finger and a portion of the shank of said last named tong member adjacent the rear of said finger cooperating with that part of said first named tong member directly to the rear of said opening to form a pivotal bearing for said two tong members, and a tension spring connected with said finger and with the shank of said first named tong member to the rear of said 0 opening.

The foregoing specification signed at Seattle, Wash, this 2nd day of Aug. 1929.

' FRANK B. DREYER. 

